Donald Trump cherishes his German heritage so much that, for years, he claimed his father’s roots were in Sweden.
That was a big personal reason – ahead of Ukraine or trade uncertainty – why Friedrich Merz was on high alert for his inaugural visit with the US president in the Oval Office.
And that is why he ramped up the personal, and dispelled those Sweden rumours for good, by presenting the president with the calligraphic birth certificate of his grandfather.
As Trump’s admiring eye drifted to the golden frame, Merz kept shtum on why the same grandfather was run out of the Kingdom of Bavaria for good: for not doing his military service. Some things run in the family.
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Before returning to Germany, a relieved Merz said he had felt Trump was “a person I can speak to well on a very personal level”. Germany and the US had, he added, “laid a foundation today for good personal but also political talk leading to constructive political goals”.
In a private meeting Merz said the two had discussed the growing trade spat and, despite the EU lead here in Europe, promised “close co-operation and special representatives” to shuttle between Berlin and Washington.
Merz said that, in their meeting, he “thought he succeeded” in impressing on Trump how German-owned car plants based in the US export as many cars to the rest of the world as BMW, Volkswagen and others export to the US.
After leaving the White House, Merz was asked on Fox News about calls to ban the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a move Merz views with a sceptical eye. He said his country cherished freedom of expression and allowed everyone to run for parliament.
He also brushed off claims from US secretary of state Marco Rubio that Germany was drifting into “tyranny”, saying the issue “was behind us” and had not come up in talks with Trump.
“Germany is a mature democracy,” he said, “and that’s why we don’t need lectures from outside.”
When Fox asked about the spike in anti-Semitic attacks in Germany, as presented in a report this week, Merz attributed this to a struggle with “imported anti-Semitism through all the migrants we’ve had in the last years”.
Given that dealing with Russia was “extremely complicated”, Merz said he had asked the US president to intervene more strongly. And what of Trump’s claim that, had he been president in 2022 Russia would never have invaded Ukraine?
Merz replied diplomatically: “Speculation.”
After Trump’s chilly dealings with Angela Merkel – referred to by the US president curtly as “her” – Merz was aiming to trigger a thaw, even if that meant smiling away Trump’s second World War jokes.
And on Friday morning a relieved Frankfurter Allgemeine joked that, with Trump, “even criticism can be flattery”.
This referred to Trump’s joke that Merz can be “difficult”, to which the chancellor just smiled and nodded.
“Trump could use someone to talk to in Europe to solve problems, such as the Ukraine war,” the newspaper noted. “During the chancellor’s visit to the White House, it looked like Merz could be that partner.”
The centre-left Süddeutsche Zeitung, no fan of Merz, headlined its editorial: “Trump likes this German”.
It admitted that Merz had apparently managed to build up a personal relationship with Trump. He also listened quietly while the president mentioned casually he would not withdraw troops from Europe, as threatened, after all.
“It speaks for Merz that he spoke up for Ukraine, whenever he was allowed speak,” the Süddeutsche noted. “But the chancellor’s demand that Trump increase pressure on Putin, Trump ignored that deliberately. The visit may have gone well for Merz, for Ukraine the result is devastating.”
